Drive up out of control

[Endlessbackstock]

I noticed it today on the walkie for the first time that things were getting pretty bad with the drive up. It was around 10:30am and guest service started calling in the walkie when the horn went off on my Zebra four times in 5 minutes. She said I need help with drive ups. No one responded. The ETL finally responded a few minutes later and told someone to respond...(useless). The horn then went off two more times in the next few minutes. This is not going to work out at all as we approach the holidays. They are going to need a lot more Zebras and employees for this drive up crap.

 

[qmosqueen]

Chirp chirp. Honk honk

Can someone record the walkie with the chirp chirp honk honk and post the video here or on Reddit.

 

[NKG]

No one trains their teams on sfs anymore. I'm like can you pull from the back? Yes then you can do an order

 

[INFThatShiz]

At one point today we had three people pull up at the same time. ‘‘Twas fun man. Now if people could pick up their regular orders, that’d be great. We are quickly running out of room.

 

[Amanda Cantwell]

ETLs and TLs need to be way more responsive. If I say “hey team please I need help with drive ups” it’s not because I WANT to pull you away from your work, it’s because I’m the only one at the desk, there’s a 4 person line, and 3 drive ups went off at once, two with no warning.

(True story)

 

[Endlessbackstock]

ETLs and TLs need to be way more responsive. If I say “hey team please I need help with drive ups” it’s not because I WANT to pull you away from your work, it’s because I’m the only one at the desk, there’s a 4 person line, and 3 drive ups went off at once, two with no warning.

(True story)

when hiring people isn’t an option for the higher ups, they are going to have to come up with a better plan than just pulling people from other departments

 

[Kartman]

Man - it looks like I exited at just the right time...

 

[qmosqueen]

Sorry that’s not on my assignment sheet. it’s out of my area of expertise. I’m a DBO for consumables.

 

[blitzsofttm]

I'm glad my store isn't the only one having issues with the rest of the team not responding for DU backup when we call it over the walkie.

 

[Pattern Finder]

At my store, if SETL or ETL-SE isn’t responding to Drive-Up, no one except the very few Guest Advocates (including myself) will respond. No one. We’re lucky enough if TMs who are Guest Service trained even respond to back up at service desk honestly.

I understand why a lot of them don’t respond because there is a lot that needs to be done up to and including pulling CAFs, setting up salesfloor planners etc. It’s just been... rough. A lot of us having to deal with cut-hours and call-outs.

Anyways, GS is almost always backed up with the return and OPU lines whenever they call for Drive-Up back up. I’ve had too many times I’m mad dashing down the escalator to reach GS, grab an available Zebra (person at SCO is using the zebra to help a guest check something’s in stock), find the damn location, snatch the orders, sprint into the parking lot wondering when a Toyota Prius is finally gonna run me over and hope to gods the Guest is already in the parking stall. R.I.P.

 

[qmosqueen]

Guest service needs a sign “be back in 10 minutes in parking lot for drive up “

 

[INFThatShiz]

If I’m putting OPUs into hold and a Drive Up shows up, I’ll take it out. Nice chance to get some fresh air and waste a minute or two. Or I’ll cover SD for a minute so that they can take it out. I don’t get pulling from the floor for DU, since a lot of people, at least at my store, aren’t trained for it. But if the GE ETL is there then there’s really no excuse for making the DU wait; get your ass out of TSC and take it, instead of just calling it out over walkie.

 

[Leo47]

My GSTLs always tell me “don’t let the timer go over two minutes if you need help call for it” and when I get a rush I’ll be on the walkie “hey GSTL please help me with the drive ups I need some backup” *silence* “hey GSTL can I please get some backup to order pickup I have a super long line and lots of drive ups” *silence*

 

[starfishncoffee]

I'm always happy to take them out; as @INFThatShiz pointed out, it's a nice way to sneak some outside time. I do mind it when no one answers calls for help. (I have to say for as difficult as our ETL-SE can be, they're right there helping if they're in the building.)

I wish there was at least a weight limit on drive-up orders, because at my store, too many are ordering furniture, and when that happens, bye-bye two minutes.

First, we can't fit that at GS, so we have to scan it into a location then take it elsewhere. That means ...

*honk honk* (because heaven forbid they *chirp chirp* first in my entitled ZIP code)
*Opens MyPickup*
*Discovers it's a large item*
*Madly calls for FoSA assistance on walkie while dashing to its holding spot because it's often a team lift*
*Pushes flat out to guest's car, scans their code, silently puts a pox on their house while they sit there sipping their LaCroix and watch us struggle to fit it around the 84,000 pieces of crap they already have in the back of their SUV*

Back-to-school drive-ups are through the roof, and I sincerely hope someone takes that into account as the first day of school gets closer re: staffing. (A person can dream.)

 

[Times Up]

My GSTLs always tell me “don’t let the timer go over two minutes if you need help call for it” and when I get a rush I’ll be on the walkie “hey GSTL please help me with the drive ups I need some backup” *silence* “hey GSTL can I please get some backup to order pickup I have a super long line and lots of drive ups” *silence*

Can you talk to the GE about that?

Or say, "Hey GSTL, I've got 4 in line at SD, I won't be able to get that DU for at least 5-6 minutes".

 

[Amanda Cantwell]

My GSTLs always tell me “don’t let the timer go over two minutes if you need help call for it” and when I get a rush I’ll be on the walkie “hey GSTL please help me with the drive ups I need some backup” *silence* “hey GSTL can I please get some backup to order pickup I have a super long line and lots of drive ups” *silence*

Omg this is my store

Can you talk to the GE about that?

Or say, "Hey GSTL, I've got 4 in line at SD, I won't be able to get that DU for at least 5-6 minutes".

”hey ETL GE we’re gonna miss goal time” gets someone’s attention usually

 

[seasonaldude]

I'm always happy to take them out; as @INFThatShiz pointed out, it's a nice way to sneak some outside time. I do mind it when no one answers calls for help. (I have to say for as difficult as our ETL-SE can be, they're right there helping if they're in the building.)

I wish there was at least a weight limit on drive-up orders, because at my store, too many are ordering furniture, and when that happens, bye-bye two minutes.

First, we can't fit that at GS, so we have to scan it into a location then take it elsewhere. That means ...

*honk honk* (because heaven forbid they *chirp chirp* first in my entitled ZIP code)
*Opens MyPickup*
*Discovers it's a large item*
*Madly calls for FoSA assistance on walkie while dashing to its holding spot because it's often a team lift*
*Pushes flat out to guest's car, scans their code, silently puts a pox on their house while they sit there sipping their LaCroix and watch us struggle to fit it around the 84,000 pieces of crap they already have in the back of their SUV*

Back-to-school drive-ups are through the roof, and I sincerely hope someone takes that into account as the first day of school gets closer re: staffing. (A person can dream.)

Keep in mind the only thing that is tracked is if the guest's barcode is scanned in under 2 minutes and the guest has no idea what's happening in the store. So, feel free to lie massage the truth. When a guest suddenly arrives to get their massive order with a bunch of large items, send someone out to the lot to scan the barcode. The guest doesn't need to sign if they don't want to at that point. The guest can be told that you just need to confirm it's really them and that some other TM is getting their order ready to bring out (this need not be true; the guest doesn't know one way or another). This is a good opportunity to politely tell the guest if they give us warning they are on the way next time, they won't have to wait as long but since they didn't it will just be a few minutes. Then, you can go back inside, get the order and take it out.

Having said that, my store tends to view drive up wait time as one of the least important metrics. We try, but if we don't make it, we don't make it. Unless a TM is literally standing around the front of the store doing nothing when a guest arrives, it's almost impossible to get out there in under 2 minutes. Even then we often don't make it because our GPS is off and guest will "arrive" when they are sitting at a stoplight in front of the store or even more hilarious, going through one of the several fast food drive throughs that are nearby.

 

[Endlessbackstock]

My GSTLs always tell me “don’t let the timer go over two minutes if you need help call for it” and when I get a rush I’ll be on the walkie “hey GSTL please help me with the drive ups I need some backup” *silence* “hey GSTL can I please get some backup to order pickup I have a super long line and lots of drive ups” *silence*

Backup for driveups and requests for a MyDevice have more silence than a theater showing Schindler’s List

 

[DBZ]

Backup for driveups and requests for a MyDevice have more silence than a theater showing Schindler’s List

Recently, we had just one mydevice between the front end and GS and it was busy. I finally lost my mind and got on the walkie "GS needs another mydevice please" crickets "GS needs another mydevice please, who is responding?" I felt bad being so bitchy. I really wish there were more.

 

[Amanda Cantwell]

Recently, we had just one mydevice between the front end and GS and it was busy. I finally lost my mind and got on the walkie "GS needs another mydevice please" crickets "GS needs another mydevice please, who is responding?" I felt bad being so bitchy. I really wish there were more.

Just say “hey team GS needs a mydevice for order pickup” and if no response call again replacing team with leaders

 

[Times Up]

Recently, we had just one mydevice between the front end and GS and it was busy.

How can leadership even let that happen?

 

[seasonaldude]

Just say “hey team GS needs a mydevice for order pickup” and if no response call again replacing team with leaders

Nah, the second time would be, "GM, the front end doesn't have a device for drive-ups, who on your team do you want to do them?" Wouldnt happen at my store because we always have spare MyCheckouts, but I'd be pointed like that if it did happen.

 

[DBZ]

Just say “hey team GS needs a mydevice for order pickup” and if no response call again replacing team with leaders

I think I did put in that they were needed for OPU/DUs. I will use "hey team leaders" in the future. I kind of can't wait to LOL.

How can leadership even let that happen?

I have no idea. I blame modernization. The opening cashiers were too chicken to grab a device. One of them has since grown a spine, reluctantly LOL.

Nah, the second time would be, "GM, the front end doesn't have a device for drive-ups, who on your team do you want to do them?" Wouldnt happen at my store because we always have spare MyCheckouts, but I'd be pointed like that if it did happen.

I love that! We have 3 my checkouts. I have no idea where they were. I'm sure electronics had one. Maybe they got 2 trucks or something that day. Sometimes an ETL or SD will give the extra my check out on the team. I'm going to argue next time though because recently two of them came apart.

 

[Amanda Cantwell]

I think I did put in that they were needed for OPU/DUs. I will use "hey team leaders" in the future. I kind of can't wait to LOL.

You can also use the classic “Hey etlge/GSTL we’re going to miss goal time on the drive up”

 

[DBZ]

You can also use the classic “Hey etlge/GSTL we’re going to miss goal time on the drive up”

Good idea. I appreciate all your tips. DU is new for us.